The Latest: Havanese tops pug in toy group at Westminster

NEW YORK (AP) – The Latest on the Westminster Kennel Club dog show (all times local):

9:05 p.m.

Bono the Havanese has won the toy group at Westminster, besting Biggie the popular pug.

The Havanese is the national dog of Cuba. The breed has never won best in show at America’s top pooch pageant, and Bono will get that chance Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.

Bono was handled in the ring by Taffe McFadden. Last year, husband Bill guided Flynn the bichon frise to best in show at Westminster.

“Whoever brings it home, it’s team,” she said.

Biggie the pug made it to the final ring of seven last February. He drew cheers again, and finished second in the toy group.

___

8:22 p.m.

Could it be, could a dachshund really win Westminster?

This is the 143rd edition of America’s top dog competition, and no dachshund has ever walked off with best in show.

Sprightly at 7, Burns will get that chance after taking the hound group. A crowd pleaser, the longhaired dachshund and handler Carlos Puig hugged in the middle of the ring after the victory.

“Dachshunds are the best breed in the world,” Puig told fans at Madison Square Garden.

Burns now advances to the final ring of seven Tuesday night.

There were 76 dachshunds entered at Westminster in three varieties. Dachshunds are among several popular breeds that have never won this event – golden retrievers, Labs, Chihuahuas and Dalmatians have been shut out, too.

___

4:25 p.m.

You might say the Westminster Kennel Club dog show’s obedience competition is Heart to win.

For the fourth year in a row, a Labrador retriever named Heart and handler Linda Brennan took the title Monday. In fact, no one else has ever won it.

More than a dozen dogs competed. The event includes complicated six-minute routines.

Brennan’s was inspired by “The Red Balloon,” the 1956 French movie about a boy who’s followed around by a red helium balloon. In the obedience competition, Heart picked up and carried a similar balloon while doing jumps and other exercises.

Brennan is an obedience trainer from Columbia, New Jersey. She says 6 Â½-year-old Heart loves the crowd and the buzz at the big Westminster show and “just turns on in this environment.”

___

3:10 p.m.

A top-winning whippet is out of Westminster – knocked off by, of all dogs, his own sister.

Whiskey had won the big National Dog Show televised on Thanksgiving Day and the AKC event shown on New Year’s Day. But his bid for a Triple Crown of dogdom ended when he was topped by littermate Bourbon in the breed judging this afternoon.

Last year, Whiskey won the breed at Westminster, and Bourbon was award best of opposite sex. This time, the 3-year-olds switched places.

Justin Smithey and his wife, Cheslie Pickett Smithey, co-own both dogs and live in Sugar Valley, Georgia. Justin handled Whiskey in the ring, Cheslie guided Bourbon.

“We’re as proud as we can get,” he said.

Whiskey wasn’t sour after the upset. The littermates are “best buds,” Cheslie said, and nuzzled outside the ring when it was over.

___

1:25 p.m.

Biggie is back.

The popular pug who had fans at Madison Square Garden chanting his name last year in the final ring is off to another good start.

The 3-year-old won a best of breed ribbon in the morning, and advanced to the toy group judging at night.

“He’s everything a pug should be. He’s a lap dog. He’s a comedian. He’s a family dog,” she said. “And he loves to show.”

Instead of taking an early victory lap, Biggie took a victory nap. He spent part of the afternoon sleeping in his crate – on tap there was a plastic bag that had the words “Life is Ridiculously Awesome.”

A dog’s life, indeed.

___

11:45 a.m.

In the world of dog shows, there’s no shame in sleeping on the competition.

At least not for GCH Haystac’s Montgomery The Spartan General – or Monty, for short. The Old English Sheepdog is named after British Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery, who fought in World War I and II. Monty isn’t much of a fighter, but he hasn’t had to be. In fact, he may fall asleep before you can finish saying his name.

Monty took a preshow snooze on the groomer’s table at a recent competition in Canada, slumbering away while handler Virginia Goscinak brushed out his puffy white coat. Goscinak woke up the 3-year-old dog shortly before the competition, and Monty went into the ring and came out a best of breed winner.

A few hours before competing at Westminster, Monty was back in top form, lazing away while two groomers brushed and sprayed his fur. Goscinak had to pull back the tufts on Monty’s face to confirm his eyes were still open.

“He loves this,” Goscinak said.

___

11 a.m.

Dogs from affenpinschers to Yorkshire terriers are rounding the rings at the Westminster Kennel Club dog show.

Breed judging began Monday at the illustrious show in New York. More than 2,800 dogs in 203 breeds and varieties are signed up to compete over two days, leading up to the televised Best in Show award Tuesday night.

Monday’s judging includes dogs in the herding, hound, non-sporting and toy groups. One closely-watched contestant is expected to be Whiskey, a whippet that notched big wins in shows televised on Thanksgiving Day and New Year’s Day.

This year’s Westminster show features two new breeds, the grand basset griffon Vendeen (grahnd bah-SAY’ grih-FAHN’ vahn-DAY’-ahn) and the Nederlandse kooikerhondje (NAY’-dehr-lahn-seh KOY’-kehr-hahnd-jeh).

The show also featured an agility championship Saturday and is holding an obedience competition Monday.

___

More AP dog show coverage: https://apnews.com/WestminsterKennelClubDogShow

Denise Agre-gill uses a styling spray to groom her toy poodle Andre before they compete in the Best of Breed event at the Westminster Kennel Club dog show on Monday, Feb. 11, 2019, in New York. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)

POPULAR CATEGORY

Discover a medium through which readers and writers can interact with relevant, original content to form a web of interconnected musical ideas, styles, cultures, and individuals, engaging local to global social issues, connecting the world through music.